Rapace, who starred in Swedish thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Ridley Scott's Prometheus, will film the movie in April in Melbourne, where it's also set.

Angel of Mine will be adapted from the 2008 French film L'Empreinte de L'Ange, telling the story of a grieving mother who becomes obsessed with a stranger's daughter and is convinced that she's her own.

This will be director Farrant's second feature film after 2015 film Strangerland, starring Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving.

"What I love about this beautiful script (apart from the insanely brilliant Noomi) is that it's about intuition. We all know what it's like to know something deep in our bones and yet fall into the trap of doubting ourselves, and that questioning can drive us crazy," Farrant said.

Davies is adapting the screenplay alongside David Regal and the film has secured major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria.